


#jxaappreciationweek2016

by randomramblesff



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, for their one year anniversary!, jxaappreciationweek2016, prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-07 22:11:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7731655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomramblesff/pseuds/randomramblesff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For #jxaappreciationweek2016 on Tumblr, to celebrate Jeff & Annie's one year anniversary (a year since Annie came home from her internship).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fluff fic

**Day 1: Moment(s) that made you melt/Fluff fic**

**Post S6**

Now that they lived together, there was never a day when they didn’t wake up in each other’s arms. It wasn’t like they spent _days_ away from each other _before_ they moved in, but they were so comfortable within each other’s spaces, that waking up and having their arms around each other was one of the most satisfying parts of their whole relationship.

Annie’s usually the first to wake up naturally, opening her eyes and finding Jeff’s arm draped across her, his hand clasping around her shoulder or her waist, or any part of her body he could cling onto. It didn’t take long for him to follow suit, especially if she moved or yawned, or tried to sneak a picture of him with her phone (she had a collection of sleeping pictures now – some might find them creepy, but it gave her the opportunity to admire all of his features without him becoming self-conscious).

His eyes flutter open and he takes one deep breath before blinking and adjusting to the light, tilting his head so he can flash a goofy smile with half open eyes, accepting a peck to the lips.

“Morning sleepy head.”

It was a strange privilege for Annie to see him first thing in the morning. Although she was used to it now, it still gave her a thrill every time she looked up and saw his spikey hair stood up in every other direction rather than just the one pointed swoop at the front. He soon ran his fingers through it in an attempt to neaten it up, but she just found it even more adorable because his hand tended to flatten it down at the front. _Which then reminds her of his shower hair (or pool hair – he looked equally adorable when swimming) which always left him with a tiny rounded fringe._

“M’ning.”

“You okay?”

“Mhmm. Do y’want coffee?”

“Yes please.”

He presses a kiss to her forehead before loosening his grip and sliding to the edge of the mattress to sit up for a moment and rub a hand down his face. Something she’d learnt about living with someone so tall is that he’s prone to blacking out if he’s not too careful, so now she’s used to him adjusting. She’d originally started thinking something was up when he turned to face away, but he just chuckled at her concern and explained.

He didn’t even bother getting dressed anymore. He just wandered through the apartment stark-naked and left her with quite a view when he walked out into the living room. He also left her with something to listen to; a low hum and tune that was always the same every morning without a doubt.

“Are you still reading that book?” He was calling out from the kitchen, the faint clattering of cups and dishes echoing through the rooms.

“Hmm?”

He’s waiting for the coffee to finish in the machine, so he leans against their bedroom door, not missing how hers eyes most definitely drop between his legs and back up again.

“That book you were reading the other night. Are you still reading it?”

“Oh, this one?” She twists around and picks up a book from her night stand so he can see.

“Yeah. Do you want to read it?”

She knows that’s a code for him wanting to hear her read whilst they drink their coffees, so she smiles and nods and opens up the page she was last on so it’s ready when he returns.

“I’ll make breakfast in a while!”

When he eventually does, he puts their coffees down on either side of the bed before sinking back down in his spot, only just covering himself up with the corner of the sheets. He stretches an arm back up and around her so she can settle, before she clicks her tongue and starts to read aloud.

About half way, he carefully stretches over the pillows behind her and manoeuvres her coffee without spilling a drop so she can take a break before it goes cold. He’s already gulped back the whole of his as he seems to have a throat of steel.

At one point he nuzzles into her side because it’s the weekend and they have nowhere to be, skimming his hand up under her vest and back down, skimming even lower to tease and tantalize her with the sensation of his fingertips just underneath her underwear. She loses her line a couple of times and he knows he’s got her distracted so he picks up the bookmark which is lost between them, slides it into the page, snaps the book closed between her hands and puts it to the side along with her half empty coffee that’s resting in a fold in the duvet.

He rolls on top of her and whispers ‘Good morning’ in her ear before peeling away her panties to find that she’s already waiting for him. As soon as she feels him move, she’s pleading and panting and she can’t even start to comprehend her luck for how great her mornings are these days.

When they’re hot and sticky and Jeff’s hair is even messier not too long after, she remembers that it’s less than a week until their one-year anniversary and her heart flutters at the thought that this is only the beginning. He’s still got a while to go until she can forgive him for not making a move sooner, but she’s pretty certain if he carries on the way he’s going, she might just forget anything ever happened before.

 


	2. AU fic

**Day 2: Favorite AU, from the show or another universe/AU fic**  
Prompt by [@celerylapel:](celerylapel.tumblr.com) In between seasons 4-5, j/a are seeing each other but can't let it continue after jeff's business falls apart - he's drinking too much and depressed, annie's feeling awful selling pharmaceuticals, they break up and pretend they haven't seen each other when they all return to greendale.

(This was originally an "angst" prompt hence the angst to it, but it just worked out better as my AU.)

* * *

 

**S5 AU**

They’re all back at Greendale; Britta’s finally going to finish her degree, Shirley’s going to start back up on her business, Abed’s decided he needs to learn how to work with other people whilst Troy ‘finds himself, and Jeff and Annie, are well, the same on the surface, as before.

Jeff was now concealing the past nine months with the absurdity of his new job title as a Professor of Law; focusing in on ridiculously unworthy-of-hearing tales as if they were hot gossip everyone else wanted to hear, in an attempt to push down questions of ‘what went wrong’. The smart shirts and devilish grin were all a ruse to hide the Planet Earth DVDs which were on repeat in his classes, and the three bottle of scotches stashed away in his dingy little office desk drawer – and the fact that _Annie_ was now yet another name on the list of Failed Relationships, both for just himself, and the rest of the screwed up world.

And the worst thing was, she seemed fine. It wasn’t a surprise to Jeff when she came bombing through the doors of the study room for their first proper day of the semester; a smile plastered on her face with two beaming eyes, bright and glowy in comparison to his own which had lost all their light. She could move on; she was almost twenty-three – she had her whole life ahead of her. She didn’t have time to sit and sulk about _him;_ the failed thirty-nine-year-old returnee at law whose sudden incline of alcohol consumption and closeted feelings had been a sure fire way to bring it all to a halt.

The _all_ being; the sex, the dates, the cuddling on his couch, the late night phone calls, that one time she’d stopped off at his office in her little grey button up coat and nothing but a silk black slip-on in attempt to try and spice things up when the cracks started to appear. _Dating,_ was the more commonly known label for it ‘all’.

She _seeming_ fine, didn’t mean she was though, because the smiles were just many of the false smiles she’d put on before. It wasn’t easy to know that the person she loved and admired wasn’t willing to work with her in order to get things back on track, knowing that they could do – so easily. But then she remembered that maybe starting a relationship when Jeff was trying to get back to his old life, hadn’t been the best decision for the both them; maybe working at a job she didn’t want to be at, wasn’t the best way to enjoy the summer or come back home to Jeff from.

Maybe it had all just been a way to get it out of their systems – a way to just look back and say ‘we tried’, before they go their separate ways. They’d never been part of each other’s plans in the first place, so jumping on board the one thing Jeff had been focusing on for four years, might have done some damage. He wanted to get out of Greendale… but Greendale was her home, so him leaving, meant leaving her…

…so when she looks up from her forensics text book on the study room table, hoping he’ll be looking back, she actually starts to contemplate whether it’s Greendale or _him_ who is her home, and whether she feels welcome within either anymore.

There’s a lingering tension for the first couple of weeks. They have some sort of unspoken agreement to leave the past in the past and not mention anything which might let the others in on what happened; it’s like a piece of string is connecting them, and the only thing that will pull them closer, into each other’s circle and space, is if someone hooks their finger in the cord and _tugs._

Which of course, _does_ happen, because it’s Greendale and nobody seems to be able to mind their own goddamn business… or ignore the tension starting to get tighter ( _strings, cord, attachment)_ and the snide remarks becoming stronger from Jeff’s side. Maybe they’re actually starting to let on that everything _isn’t_ fine, because really – neither of them _want_ it to be fine, because fine means it didn’t mean anything and that it didn’t affect them; it wasn’t part of their story and their plans didn’t change.

The hooked finger belongs to Abed, but the slight elbow to the side and the glance over the other side of the table from Britta suggests he wasn’t the only one slightly curious to know what was going on. Troy and Shirley just look up – a raised eyebrow on both of their faces.

“Nothing.” Jeff shrugged, acting as nonchalantly as he could with everyone’s eyes burning through him.

“There’s something going on?” was all Annie could think to ask, trying to shorten the length of the interrogation as much as she could.

It worked for a moment, but then as Abed went back to silently reading, he pointed out that Jeff didn’t look her way anymore which was ‘a huge change in character’, leaving them to look across at each other for the first time in at least a month… truly just look at each other. The string wasn’t just being held down by a question and a finger, it was being held down by the second toothbrush in Jeff’s bathroom which he had still yet to get rid of, and the two spare t-shirts in Annie’s bottom dresser drawer which quite obviously only belonged to Jeff, not only because of the size but because of the cologne that was engrained and never leaving.

Jeff was the first one to look away, dropping his eyes solemnly to the new Table Mark II before pushing out his chair and mumbling something about ‘being late for his class’ as he turned. Seeing him walk away never got any less painful, she realised, especially when she knew she shouldn’t follow.

They shared a look, perhaps a more purposeful one, only a day later when Annie slowed her pace at his classroom window. He was sat behind his desk with his feet crossed over at the ankles as he rested them up and in front of him, his hands in his lap as he fiddled around with something on his phone, a DVD playing on the old TV in the corner, all of his students turned to stare with wide eyes as David Attenborough started talking about some penguins. She wondered what kind of excuse and speech he came up with in order to fit law and nature into one.

She stood completely still, her arms crossed over her books to just take in the view. His eyes were a little darker than _before –_ tired and crinkled and turned downwards just like his frown. There was a glass on his desk, loaded up with a golden liquid which gave her the chills whenever she thought about that night she’d come over to his apartment and found him in bed with an empty bottle pressed into the pillow she’d started to call hers. She spoke to him about it though, and he promised it was just a one-time thing of self-hate and self-loathing… it now felt like he was doing it on purpose as if it would make her question why she ever liked him in the first place, when in fact, it did just the opposite.

She wanted to help him; curl into his side and stroke a hand through his hair, and tell him it was all going to be okay, and then press her lips to the pulse on his neck before dipping down lower, raising herself over him and sliding down so he could know that she was there and he could be with her whenever he needed.

She’s so zoned out that she doesn’t even notice that he’s looking back at her, probably wondering why she’s been staring for so long. She blinks hard and shakes her head a little before tucking her chin down and walking on.

They only talk in group conversations because there’s not a lot to say whenever they’re alone, which isn’t very often anyway because one of them always has an excuse as to why they need to be elsewhere.

Except from when Abed plans a movie night and doesn’t tell Annie who’s been invited (if nothing’s going on, then there’s no reason why she shouldn’t just expect everyone to arrive, right? Well except from Pierce – who nobody has heard from or seen since he graduated), so they’re sat on the couch waiting for popcorn and drinks to be served, silence and a pillow between them.

Annie glances out the corner of her eye to see how he’s sat; his head forward, his hands fidgeting in-between his parted legs and a stare fixed in his eyes. Britta leaves with Troy to go and buy some more beer from the store down the road, and lets everyone know they’ll be ten minutes at most, which is more infuriating than if they’d just left without saying anything because now they _both_ know they have ten more minutes of sitting side by side until the movie starts and the silence is actually warranted. Shirley has yet to arrive due to her baby sitter arriving late, so the evening hasn’t exactly gone to plan at all.  

Annie puffs out an audible sigh and stands to her feet, letting Jeff’s eyes follow her to her door, which she doesn’t quite close. He takes it as an invitation seeing as ten minutes to Britta is twenty and probably forty to Troy. Abed has already raised suspicions over their current ‘relationship’ anyway, so he gathers he won’t mind if he goes in and closes the door up completely.

She’s pacing when he joins her; just padding up and down beside her bed (which they never had sex in, he thinks, suddenly feeling his pulse rise and his teeth clench because she has _roommates_ ). He isn’t quite sure what to say, or even if he’s welcome, so he just starts with a simple,

“Hey.”

He’s not willing to start with anything more, especially when he’s only had a few sips of beer. The sound of his mouth popping against the rim every time he gulped from the bottle seemed much louder than it usually would when they’d been alone with Abed rustling around in the background.

She stops pacing and perches on the side of her bed, but makes it obvious that she doesn’t want him to do the same, even though he really wishes he wasn’t the taller one in this scenario – they should be level – _equals._

“You don’t have to talk. I came in here because it was too awkward. I wanted to wait until Abed puts on the movie.”

He nods and starts pacing himself, his hands in his pockets and a pout on his face. His stubble isn’t quite thick enough to conceal how he is still clenching his teeth, though. She could have sworn she smelled a whiff of scotch seeping from every pore as he turned before her wall, but he doesn’t look dishevelled, and when they’d been sat side by side he hadn’t really smelled of anything. Maybe she’s just looking for a sign that he’s hurting more than he’s putting on. It’s been a couple of weeks since he started teaching, and honestly, he doesn’t seem that worrisome. On the _surface._

“Maybe we shouldn’t act like nothing happened. It’s probably doing more damage to just act like it meant nothing.”

She looks up from the carpet and lets out a gasp of shock.

“I thought it _didn’t_ mean anything.”

He stops pacing.

“I never said that.”

“Well then you _acted_ like it didn’t.”

“Yeah, maybe I did… but the past few months have been shit.”

“Jeez, thanks.”

“I don’t mean you. You _know_ I don’t mean you,” he rolls her eyes as she shakes her head, “but I have a job I don’t want, and maybe _just_ maybe I might enjoy teaching, but it doesn’t take the sting away from how I now have to come to terms with the fact that I can’t go back to doing what I want. I failed. And then you were there and it got messy because I didn’t want you to have to deal with me being a failure. I never want you to see me like that, but you did, because you’re you and you… just… and it was easier to say we have to stop, than just admit that I needed you. I was ashamed and I still am.”

“Did you ever stop and think that maybe I needed you too?”

“Yes, of course I did; all the time. And that’s why we had to stop because you deserve better than that. I know… I…” Jeff paused to let out a shaky breath, meeting her eyes which were glossy, “…I could have been so much better. I wanted to be. I hate the fact that I know what it’s like to see you in bed in the morning but it has to _me_ you wake up to.”

“Wh… why would you say that?” Her voice was almost like a whisper, the line between her brows creasing inwards as he picked at a loose bit of nail on her finger.

“Because why would you want to be with me?”

She doesn’t even think.

“Because I love you.”

She’s not looking at him as she says it… her eyes are pinned to his knees. She shrugs her shoulder as if it’s as simple as that.

“Because… because I love you.”

She repeats herself, just waiting, _hoping_ that he might say something back.

 _Love.  
_ He’d rolled the word around his tongue a few times before. In fact, before everything had gone haywire with his own company, he’d even caught himself on the verge of just saying those three words. She’d been in his heart for longer than he wants to admit, so why was it so hard to put a label on what that really meant?

She can see his lips part and her eyes widen but all she hears is the slow escape of the word, “too”.

He scrunches up his nose and closes his eyes, and mutters a curse she can’t quite workout.

“I love you too. And it terrifies me.”

She’s standing now, a slightly irritated look on her face.

“Yeah well the thought of not being in your life terrifies me more!”

His breathing is frantic and his eyes are searching but there’s only one thing he needs.

He cups his hands around her face and pulls her up.

The string breaks, but it’s okay, because they’re not detached; in fact, they’ve never been closer.  


	3. Angst fic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I've had this idea in my head for a while now. I don't know, it might be OCC or slightly over the top, but it seems like something Jeff would think about to me.... plus, if it can make me cry whilst writing it then I guess it ticks the box for angst? (Yup, that happened - #over emotional.))

**Day 3: Moment(s) that made you cry/angst fic**

**Post S6**

Sometimes when they were fighting, to make his opinions seem more valid even if it was over something petty, Jeff tended to blurt out a phrase along the lines of; “Yeah well I’m older than you so I guess you’ve got a bit of experience to catch up on.”, and most of the time Annie just brushed it off and rolled her eyes, especially when he gritted his teeth and turned away, his shoulder slumping to show he regretted starting the argument in the first place.

But this time was different. She couldn’t just let it slide; it wasn’t sitting right.

“Why do you always say that? I’m starting to feel like you really _do_ have a problem with us. I thought you were over that!”

He flared his nostrils and leant forward onto his fists which were curled up on the kitchen countertop separating the two of them.

“I don’t care!”

“Then why do you always say stuff like that? It’s like you actually do it to hurt me.”

“I would never do it to hurt you! I don’t care!”

“Then _why?”_

“Because maybe I’m trying to protect myself!” He was scrunching up his shoulders whilst holding his hands up in the air and she didn’t understand what he was trying to say at all, especially when his voice was raised and his eyes had that look of frantic fear within them.

“Protect yourself from what?!”

“From the truth!”

“The truth of _what?!”_

“The fact that one day I’m not gonna’ be there!”

She still doesn’t understand what he’s saying, so she asks again.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“One day… one day you’re going to wake up, and I’m not going to be there.”

“What… what do you…”

“One day, if this works out and we spend the rest of our lives together, you’re going to have to be there when I’m not. You’ll wake up, and I won’t be there, so I say things like that to make it seem like there are positives to me being who I am. I _don’t_ care. I love you and you know that, and I doubt I could even be with someone my own age, not that I _see_ you as someone who isn’t, but… I _do_ think about it… but only because one day I know you’re going to have to go through that, and I hate the fact that I _need_ that to happen… because if one day I wake up and _you’re_ gone before me, then something’s wrong.”

She’d never thought about it before.  
Seventeen years was enough to split them between old age and middle age.

 _“Jeff..._ ” She whispered, unsure of what to say as he leant forward and closed his eyes.

“And do you know what the _wo-…_ ” He paused to take a deep breath and swallow through a crackling voice; tears threatening to spill out at any moment. He kicked himself for letting it show. They hadn’t even been together for a full year and here he was thinking about _growing old_ together.

“…the worst thing is? If I die when I’m eighty, which isn’t that bad of a prediction when you think about it… you’ll only be…” He swallowed, “sixty-three. You could still have thirty or so more years left… without me.”

Annie tilted her head back to make sure her own tears didn’t break out, but it was no such luck. A salty stain appeared as two small beads trickled down her cheek.

“You could… you could fall in love again… and I hate that I’d want you to.”

She’d seen Jeff cry. He cried over movies and dramatic scenes on TV, and wasn’t afraid to let tears fall when he became crippled with anxiety, but she’d never really seen him suddenly be overtaken with emotion to the state where he was holding the heels of his palms up to his eyes and was trying his best not to whimper. They’d been to visit his mom a couple of weeks ago and she wondered if maybe something had been brought up to make him admit such a specific type of concern.

“I hate that I’d want you to be happy without me… so yeah, maybe I do care, but only because I love you.”

She rubbed a hand up his arm and let him slump towards her.

“You don’t need to worry about that. Okay? Seriously, just… I love you too. I don’t care if we have three years together or thirty. Of course I _want_ it to be thirty and more, but… no matter what I won’t regret it because they’ll be years spent with _you._ Nobody could ever replace you. I love you… and… I’m never going to let you go, and I’m kind of hoping you’re never going to do that again either.”

He shook his head before standing up fully, pulling her close and pressing his cheek flat against the crown of her hair.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” She pulled away slightly, reaching up so her hands were around the nape of his neck.

“For fighting; for pouring out all of that.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you told me… but… just don’t worry, and maybe lay off using that whole thing as a way to make me mad… because I know you know it does.”

“I know… I will… it’s just… easy.”

“But if we work on the hard stuff, then it will all become easy and you won’t have to say it to try and make your arguments more valid… which weren’t by the way. I’m still not letting you off the hook.”

“You really know how to play with my emotions, don’t you?”

“Yup. Saddle up buddy, you’re in for a long ride if that’s what you’re worrying about.”

He snorted and his eyes creased up into smiles, the tears long gone and his heart rate settled against her own.

“I think we need to have a long talk about who needs letting off the hook, here.”

“Sure, but no angry sex when you don’t get your own way.”

“Who says _I’m_ getting my own way?” He grinned.


	4. Missing scene or end tag fic

**Day 4: Favorite JA headcanon, from any point in the show or future or past/missing scene or end tag fic**

**Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television (Annie)**

When the Dean calls out and the door of the bar swings close, she takes a breath and scans everyone’s faces. Britta’s already looking towards her, Abed’s flicking between the door and Jeff’s empty seat, and Chang is eyeing up whatever was left over in Jeff’s glass.

“Does he usually do this? Just get up and leave? Where do you think he’s gone? Home?”

She watches Frankie as she asks a fairly simple question to which everyone mumbles a response to except from her. Annie’s eyes drift from each chair to Jeff’s and when Frankie says the word ‘home’, she instantly believes she knows where he’s headed.

He wouldn’t be stood outside the bar, because it would be too easy for anyone to come out and find him, and everyone would then be questioning what went on when he eventually gets dragged back in; and he wouldn’t have driven home because even if he has been drinking noticeably more in recent times, he’s never been ignorant of the risks and has always called for a cab when he thinks he’s pushing the limit, so she thinks about the once place which is half way in-between.

Somewhere where he’s easy to find, yet might not be the first place just _anyone_ would look; somewhere where he can lock himself away but still be able to hear a knock at the door, and somewhere where he can be totally himself and let his guard down, because it’s almost impossible to put your guards up after walking out and acting fairly frantic when big news hits.

_Home._

She stands and shifts out from the table, catching Abed’s eye before speaking up, her phone in hand.

“I’m going back on campus. I’ll text you when I’m there. Just don’t…” She isn’t sure what to say but she sees Britta roll her eyes and the Dean hold a hand to his chest, so she’s pretty sure they all know what she’s trying to say.

It takes her about eight minutes to pull up into the Greendale parking lot. Jeff usually parks inside, but she expects he wouldn’t have gone to that much effort just for tonight, and her predictions are proven correct when she squints in the darkness and see’s the faint glow of his car’s security light where it’s parked under a tree.

It feels like the end of their first year all over again. Walking back _home_ after saying she’s leaving, only to end up alone with Jeff. There are no nerves within her that would make her spiral in a spurt of confidence to lean up and kiss him tonight though, because she’s only there to make sure he’s okay – something she’s missed doing in an attempt to keep her distance. But now, after glancing across the table when Abed was talking about TV and comfort, she almost feels like she’s been given one last opportunity to try.

When she clicks her heels up the steps of the library, she notices there aren’t any of the main lights on, but there’s a recognisable shadow in the light of the study room, so she sighs with relief that it hadn’t all been a waste of time. She pulls out her phone and texts Frankie to tell them she’s arrived and Jeff’s here, and that maybe they should wait before heading over because she isn’t quite sure how this going to play out.

Her hands clasp on the handle of the main entrance and she pulls slightly, trying to be as quiet as possible because she can’t quite work out what he’s doing just yet. It won’t open though, which shows just how well she knows Jeff’s ideas of escape, so she slips her hand into one of her blazer pockets and fiddles around until she finds the spare key that she’s been keeping hold of. She twists it into the slot and slowly peels back the door – and there he is.

His shoulders are drooping and he’s facing the other way, and the reality finally hits her that he actually genuinely _needs_ someone. She can’t tell where he’s looking or what expression is on his face, or what kind of thoughts are going around in his mind and it stings to think that a few years ago she would have known it all. But things change; decisions are made and people still stand tall throughout it.

Her fingers slip and the door slams shut, the blinds clattering behind her.

_He turns._


	5. Fic inspired by a song

**Day 5: Favorite song used in the show for J/A or a song that fits them/fic inspired by a song or fanvid**  
Prompt by [@zacscottysnl](http://zacscottysnl.tumblr.com/): Everday by The Tragic Thrills  


**S6 (Jeff)**

There’s a moment when they’re all in Britta’s bar and it’s all smiles and talking and discussing future plans - future, _future;_ that he stops, takes a sip of his scotch and realises he’s going to drown. He’s going to drown in a metaphorical river, and nobody’s going to be there to help. Being in love is something he never thought he’d experience, because he never really knew it was possible. He never believed it could consume your whole being like they say in the movies or in books or in those articles that are covered in glass stains and ripped at the corners, left to wrinkle and fold on bar tables.

It’s as if one day, he’s just going to slip and fall and he’ll be sinking downwards, the water rushing around him and dragging him down with all its might, and whilst he struggles and splashes, there will be a moment when he’ll see the light; the light of everything he could have had, the light of the adventures he could have experienced, the light of all the _ifs_ and _buts,_ and the light of a single person who he would do anything to save if it was the other way around. The light, the boat, the rope which could pull him up and let him breathe…

…but then he’d sink further and the water would go murky and the light would fade and he’d realise that nobody was there to save him; that he’d lost his chance of ever surviving and ever having that rope handed to him, all because he let himself slip in the first place.

Loving _her,_ was like knowing there was somebody up on the surface, but not having the guts to just reach out a hand and grab on, just in case one day, they decide to let go on their end, and move on; find somebody on the surface who’s already breathing, and is strong enough to walk through the sand and build up from whatever they have.

So he takes another sip of his scotch, blinks through the tears that would be there if he gave in to all of the weight on his shoulders, and tries to work out which way is up.

 


	6. Future fic

**Day 6: One year together. <3 What are Jeff and Annie doing now?/Future fic**

**Post S6**

He tells her it’s the best week of his life when she’s pressed up against the tiles of their suite’s double shower, her leg hooked over his shoulder as he rests on his knees, being drenched from every direction, because it’s the only real shower sex position they’ve been able to figure out during their whole four years of dating ( _height differences_ ), and so far, their first week of marriage – yet it’s definitely not the only time he’s thought it.

It was his job to plan the honeymoon. It wasn’t like they had a huge budget, but Annie had been hinting for weeks, even months, _possibly_ years (she mentioned it whilst they were watching a documentary once) that she wanted to go away for a week of sun, sea and sex, more specifically, sun, _Mediterranean_ sea and as much sex as possible, so he did his best in making that a reality.

His mom had been a big help in booking their flights, cutting the cost down considerably, but everything else had been his doing – the hotel, the hotel _suite,_ the restaurants, the private beach, the personalised ‘Mrs Winger’ bath robe which took up way too much room in their suitcase – he knew Annie would be a sucker for something cheesy like that, so he spared a pair of shoes… or two.

Annie had no idea where they were going until they reached the gate for their flight, the surprise being spoiled by an overhead announcement of their flight number and destination – the destination being Kefalonia – one of the islands off of the coast of the Greek mainland. She hadn’t quite heard it correctly at first, but then she caught a glimpse of someone’s ticket (Jeff had been dealing with all of theirs from the minute they left his mom’s house – they stayed for one night after the wedding… not exactly the sexy start to married life they’d been hoping for, but it was best for practicality) and he’d caught her eyes widen and she’d put a hand to her face, a blush creeping across her cheeks in pure excitement.

She’d reached up and almost strangled him with the strength of her embrace, biting her lip as he whispered, ‘Happy honeymoon’ in her ear and placed her back down on the ground.

They had almost twenty hours’ worth of flights to endure, and they were both extremely grateful of the fact Doreen had paid for not only their flights but also for the first class upgrade… they were hoping to get some rest, but Annie spent most of the first part of their flight(s – there was a connection at New York and another stop in Athens) going over her favourite parts of the wedding day and telling Jeff all the places she’d _guessed_ he was taking her.

He didn’t let on that he’d contemplated flying them to Paris for a day at Disneyland before going onto Greece, but with limited money (that they were supposed to be saving up for a house with) and the overwhelming exhaustion of planning a wedding and actually going through with it, he realised a week of relaxation was more worthwhile – they’d already spent their second anniversary at Disneyland in Anaheim, but it wasn’t worth telling her his original idea in case of disappointment.

They finally caught a light nap when Annie started whispering about the wedding photos, tucked up next to Jeff, his chin resting on her head.

“I can’t wait to get the photos because you looked so handsome and beautiful.”

He pouted against her hair.

“You’re the only beautiful one there was.”

She lifted his hand up to her lips so he could feel her smile against his skin, and press a kiss to where his new silver band was shining on his finger – they’d decided on a custom set, Jeff’s being a little thicker and bulkier compared to hers, but when you lined them up, a small heart connected from a tiny cut-out on the rim of each and it didn’t matter that they weren’t perfectly identical; it summed them up, really.

On the main long haul of their flight, there are booths for them to sleep in, so Annie creeps into Jeff’s and they curl up together underneath the supplied blanket. Annie has to whack Jeff’s hand away from her skirt every now and then because he’s never been more tempted by the mile-high club in his life, but then an old woman starts snoring in the bed behind them and he’s completely turned off… plus, there’s no curtains on the flight and even Jeff believes in a slight bit of privacy.

The jetlag is the worst either of them have ever experienced, but they know that they need to keep themselves awake and in tune with the local times. The views are enough for their eyes to stay open though – the shorelines are spectacular and Jeff’s never seen anything quite like it, and even though they have an (almost) private pool all to themselves, the most refreshing part of it all is the fact that it’s so _new._ The villages are so quaint and untouched, unlike the built up cities they’re used to, and the sea is the clearest water he’s ever seen and he just keeps looking over at Annie and realising that this is his life now. He’s a _husband_ and she’s his _wife_ and there’s a _new_ ring on his finger which he knows he’s never taking off.

The first night they fall asleep with their balcony doors wide open, a warm breeze blowing through the curtains as they tuck into each other’s arms. They have very little energy to do anything more than just kiss each other goodnight, but there’s so much more meaning to it than stripping off and driving each other dizzy. They’re so far away from everything they know and love, yet neither of them have ever felt so at home.

Annie thinks Jeff really suits the European way of life just by how he relaxes into it so easily. She’s seen the carefree version of Jeff, but the way he leans back into the chair at breakfast overlooking the coast line, and how he closes his eyes for a moment of pure sunshine and peace, makes her realise how much he’s probably been needing something like it for so long.

They don’t know any Greek, but most people speak English and are more than willing to help them get around – not that they’re planning on going anywhere. Even though Annie is usually a giddy tourist, when they find a secluded beach spot next to a restaurant serving fresh octopus and salads; she never wants to leave.

Not only are the views of the sea and the towns breath-taking, the views of each other are pretty damn good too; perhaps even a little better. Even though she had no idea where she was going (other than – “It’s going to be fairly warm”), Annie packed a good selection of bathing suits which Jeff smirked at whenever she slipped one on.

He changed his lock screen on his phone to a picture of her standing on a rock in a loose fitting top and a pair of shorts, her bikini tied up around her neck. They decided they were only going to share one picture to their friends and family whilst they were away, and without much fuss, they chose that one too. It was Jeff who posted it first, and the caption brought tears to her eyes when they were sat at dinner one evening. He had to get up from across the table to console her, laughing under her breath as she squealed out, “I’m just so happy!”.

Jeff’s never swam as much as he has during the week either. It’s not so much swimming, but just kicking his legs back and floating around as the waves splash around him, smiling back at Annie who was happier to sunbathe back on land, surprisingly. He didn’t mind though, because that came with advantages too; swirling patterns of sun screen into her back as he perched on the backs of her thighs, wasn’t exactly anything to complain about.

They did get one funny look from a passer-by when Jeff decided to lie straight down on her back, hovering just above her with the strengths of his arms on either side of the sun bed, but they were on their honeymoon – the only things they found on their bed when they arrived were condoms and a room service menu; what did they expect?

Oh and that aforementioned ring that Jeff kept looking at? He fiddled with it constantly, and not because it was unconformable – it was just a new sensation and he felt a sense of pride every time he felt the weight of it against his hand. He took every opportunity he had to hold her own left hand, so they could tap their rings together and remind themselves of what it really meant.

The only real touristy thing they experience is the Melissani caves on a small boat with a couple of other people, but when they get back they realise they missed their little slice of heaven and decide to stay put for the rest of the trip.

And the only real bit of tension they experience is short and temporary; Jeff jokes about throwing Annie’s birth control pills out the window and just starting to try for a kid there and then – “I mean, it would be pretty cliché. Hey mom, look we’re back from our honeymoon – you’re a grandma!” – but his jokey tone doesn’t quite get through and she spends the next half an hour worrying if she’s disappointing him by putting that plan on hold. She’s adamant she needs her job to settle first so that they can really afford it and honestly, the idea of it not just being the two of them anymore kind of terrifies her. For now, anyway.

He catches on that it wasn’t the best thing to say, so when she’s stood looking out on their balcony, he wraps his arms around her and kisses her on the neck, not moving his lips as he speaks.

“Hey, I was joking… can you imagine if we came back and had a kid? I _love you_ and I don’t want anything else. Seriously – I’m _so_ happy.”

He’s basically making out with her neck when he finishes trying to perk her back up again, so she turns to capture his lips, but she doesn’t quite make it because he’s scooping her up and around so he can drop her back down on their bed that they’d only just made from earlier activities.

“I wouldn’t be able to do any of this very often, either.” He kisses the inside of her thigh and they move on, because it’s just that easy now – well, Jeff’s very distracting too.

On their last full day, they wake up early to catch the sunrise from the pool where they sip at fresh orange juice and rest on the edge with their legs kicking up behind them.

“It’s so unfair you don’t have any tan lines.” Annie points out as they rest side by side, elbow to elbow.

“That’s what you get for being a _man_ and not having to cover up.” He winks and nudges her before dropping his eyes to wear she’s pulling down her bikini.

“I just have red and then white.” She sighs and he laughs and it’s so mundane and such an insignificant moment but he just has to tell her again.

“This has been the best week of my life, I swear to you.”

“Me too.”

He’s surprised to find himself taken aback by her answer, but the two or three times he’s already said it, she hasn’t really responded. She’s either moaned because he’s had his head between her legs or just smiled and swirled the straw in her cocktail.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I didn’t say before because it hadn’t been the full week yet. I don’t want it to end.”

“We could just stay here, leave everything behind, get a job at that tiny little grocery store and survive on whatever we can find.”

“Ooh, we could take in a cat too.”

“Yeah, we could do that.”

“And then when we eventually do have kids, we could give them Greek names like Athena and Milos or Demetri… and they can speak way better Greek than us and we can say our kids are bilingual.”

Jeff nods like he’s actually contemplating it.

“We could save one for a middle name.”

She nods too.

They later on discover that _Felix_ was originally a Greek name too, standing for ‘the lucky one’. It couldn’t sound more perfect sat between Sebastian and Winger, and when he one day asks what it means, they show him that single picture of Annie on the rocks.

 _[Jeff Winger] is with [Annie Winger] in Kefalonia, Greece  
_ Image caption: She chose me and I can’t believe my luck. I love you.


	7. Free choice fic

**Day 7 : Free choice!  
** Dedicated to my main mate, pigeon pal and Jaynine, [@zacscottysnl](https://tmblr.co/mgOsOrpcCsR_vaBGoZIVtKg). 

**Post S6**

“You’re going to get elbowed in the face if you aren’t careful.”

“Oh no, not the face.”

He had his arms wrapped around her, his chin resting on her shoulder, just at the right level so he could tuck his chin and press a kiss to the curve of her neck whenever he wanted. He knew he looked kind of pathetic with his hunched over body and his goofy grin plastered across his face as people walked by, but sometimes all he could do was let it show; let it show that he was the happiest he’d been in a long while because he finally had what he wanted.

He finally had the chance to prove how much love was inside that so-say non-existent heart of his, and he’d never felt better in doing so – even if it meant embarrassing himself in front of the majority of the Greendale area and a very sweaty looking carnival stall holder who was trying his best to drum up customers to his tin can shooting range.

It was the simple things, Jeff realised. He’d lost his cool but it was all for good reason, and quite honestly, it was worth getting elbowed in the face for.

“Do you need any help?” He mumbled against the strap of her summer dress (yeah – she was wearing them again with a bit of persuading).

“Nope.”

She fired and a can rattled to the ground and she shimmied a little under his grasp as the stall holder grunted to pick it up, walking over to the stand of prizes to show her the selection she had to choose from. She attempted to flutter her eyebrows and point at the giant teddies hung above the man’s head, but she’d only hit five of her ten shots and that simply wasn’t enough.

“That’s not going anywhere near the bedroom.” Jeff added as they walked away, glancing down at the purple plushy frog in her hand.

“Aww why? It’s cute…” She wobbled its legs and climbed it up his arm as they walked, making him shiver once she reached his back.

“You’re lucky I even let you accept it.”

She sighed and slowed her pace, clasping the frog in just one hand so she could use her other to swing back and forth with Jeff.

“And for once I thought you weren’t being a grump.”

He stopped then, turning to face her so he could lower himself down again and nudge his nose against her own.

“I’m not.” His lips met hers short and sweetly, before he pulled her upwards, her arms slipping around his shoulders (frog still in tow) and her legs kicking up behind her.

“Ooh cotton candy.” She spied a stall and immediately slid back down to the ground, her hands moving from Jeff’s shoulders to his hands. It was natural now, _instinctive_ in fact, the way that they slipped each other’s fingers together as they walked, like they simply couldn’t be separated even by a few inches.

“It’s diabetes on a stick.”

“ _Or,_ it’s three minutes of pure sugary melt in your mouth joy.”

“If we go back to the car now, I can give you three minutes of something else in your mouth joy.”

She let his hand go then, shivering jokingly, slowly searching for his hand again with slight reservation. He didn’t stop her from buying some of that sugary joy though, because the sight of seeing a swirl of pink bigger than her whole head and neck combined was fairly amusing and was a great photo opportunity for the slowly growing collection of memories he had on his phone.

“Do you want some?” He shook his head as he took hold of her purple frog so she didn’t waste the cotton candy on the floor, and carried on walking on.

“Shall we go on the Ferris wheel? I wonder if we can see our apartment from up there.” He squinted through his sunglasses as Annie pointed up ahead of them.

“It’s not that big.”

“And our apartment isn’t _that_ far away. Come on, let’s go.”

“A’ight.” He shook his head and trailed behind slightly, his fingers still gripping on to hers. She paid for their ride and then clambered into a pastel coloured cart which clinged and clanged with its metallic frame; Jeff was pretty certain wasn’t a good sign, but he didn’t mention it though, he just slid his arm across the back of the seat and allowed her to settle down in his arm, resting her head on his shoulder to finish her cotton candy and enjoy the view which was only _just_ visible at her height.

She pointed the wooden stick up in the air when there was only one or two mouthfuls left, and he finally succumbed by sliding his tongue across it and eating every last morsel. He set the stick down beside him before dropping his hand to her thigh, brushing his thumb against the inside to meet smooth with toughened skin.

“You can see City College from here.” She nodded forward to a large expanse of white buildings starting to appear below them, letting her head fall back onto Jeff’s forearm. He flexed out a finger in front of her face, pointing up to the sky.

“There’s a plane up there.”

“Oh yeah.”

He yawned and settled his cheek against her hair and let out a satisfactory sigh when she brought his hand up to her lips.

“Are you happy?”

He ducked his head so he could hear her more clearly against the slight breeze that was swaying them from side to side.

“Hmm?”

“Are you happy?”

“Am I happy? Yeah… why? Are _you_ happy?”

“Mhmm. Scarily so, in fact… I’m not sure it could get much better than this.”

He pouted over how a creaking Ferris wheel in the middle of an old dusty parking lot was the cherry on the cake, but then he looked down at her again and their fingers twiddling about in the air, and he got what she was saying.

“I’m pretty sure we can top this though. What have we got to look forward to?”

“Hmm… first of all there’s our anniversary.”

“Yeah…”

“Then our _second_ anniversary,” He scoffed out a laugh as she continued, “then our _third_ anniversary…”

“Yeah…”

“Getting engaged after a super heart felt proposal.”

“Noted.”

“Getting married.”

“Yeah.”

“Buying a house, and _decorating_ it too, because if doing our new place _now_ was fun, then actually decorating the house we _own_ would be even more exciting.”

“True.”

He nodded against her cheek and wondered why the list had ended.

“Your turn.” She answered the unspoken question in his mind.

“Do I carry on?”

“Yup.”

“Okay… umm…” He glanced out to the view and the sun which was starting to dim in the late afternoon light, and that vision he’d had of coming home to her and _him,_ came back to his mind. Except from it was different now because _she_ was the one walking through the door, and he was the one on the couch, folding laundry or something mundane as a blur of blonde hair toddled around in the background. She knew he wanted kids, so he just breathed and added it on.

“Starting a family.”

She nodded against his chest as he continued.

“Getting a dog.”

“Starting a family _and_ getting a dog? That’s going to be a handful.”

“Well I don’t mean necessarily straight away. I just know at some point I want a dog… I mean, only if you do too.”

“It depends what kind of dog you’re thinking.”

“We can rescue a Labrador puppy.”

“Golden or chocolate?”

“Golden.”

“Oh, I was imagining chocolate.”

“Golden ones are way cuter! Plus, my mom had a chocolate one when I was really little but it got sick, so… _I’ve_ always imagined myself having a golden one.”

“Okay well, I think we’ve got some time to think about it.” She laughed and tapped his knee with her hand and the purple frog, smiling at how this was what he wanted now.

“Then what? We’re married, we have a house, we have kids, we have a dog… what else?”

Truth to be told, he’d never really thought that far, because that’s the ultimate dream, right? To have a happy family in a house of your own with maybe a couple of cars on the drive way and a decent salary to keep you afloat.

“I’m not sure… I guess more of this but we have kids to look after.” He waved a hand to the rest of the cart and the open sky, the tops of the carnival stands coming into view as their cycle started to finish.

“So… it would be like this but there’d be two other people sat opposite us who have my eyes and your nose and are probably telling us how gross we are for cuddling?”

“My _nose?_ Why would you want that combination?”

She looked up and smiled, pointing a finger to the curved pointy tip.

“You know I like your nose.” He bugged his eyes and opened his mouth to bite down on her finger tip, shaking it a little in between his teeth.

“In answer to your question though… yeah; like this but it’s more than just us… not that I don’t like it being just me and you, because you’re probably right, they’ll hate us.”

“That’s the dream then? To have kids that hate us for being _too_ in love.” He smiled down at her before pressing his forehead against hers and kissing her in just the right way that her chest heaved against his. He pulled away, flicking his eyes over to the seats which now belonged to their imaginary future children.

“But we wouldn’t ever let it show… you have no idea what kind of trauma you get from hearing your parents go at it, especially when it’s just angry wall banging because your dad wants his own way.”

“Oh… ew… _really?”_

“Paper thin walls.” He mimicked the size in the air, his nostrils flaring.

“Ew… I’m sorry. But yeah… definitely not… but having kids doesn’t mean our sex life has to go out the window; in fact, I once read that intimacy is increased when you have kids because you’re even more in admiration for your partner… and well… because you can’t have it as often.”

“Makes sense.”

The cart slowed as it reached the bottom, but as Jeff started to shift from the bench, Annie placed a hand on his leg and gestured for him to stay put.

“I bought two.” She circled her finger in the air as he settled back down again. He brushed her hair away from her ear and whispered against it with warm breath.

_“You’re really lucky I love you.”_

She smiled.

“I know.”


End file.
